


Under the Calm of Moonlight

by TheCopperSoulBox (ProbablyJozo)



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Squips (Be More Chill), Dance of the Moonlight Jellies, Fluff, It's pretty soft, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Stardew Valley AU, it's mainly just rich and michael, lowkey flirting, mentions of past house fire, rich has a lisp but it isn't written out, the girls are also there but they're only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29113641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyJozo/pseuds/TheCopperSoulBox
Summary: But the person who caught Michael’s full attention was Rich. The guy was sitting on the edge of the dock, legs swung over the side as he stared out to sea. Michael found himself making his way over, quietly treading across the wood until he was stood next to his friend.“Fancy seeing you here.”~It's the final night of summer in Stardew Valley, which means it's time for the moonlight jellies to visit, and Michael finds himself hanging out with Rich on the docks.
Relationships: Rich Goranski/Michael Mell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Under the Calm of Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> I've gotten really obsessed with Stardew Valley in the past couple weeks and I couldn't get the imagery of Rich calmly sitting on the edge of the docks out of my head, so I wrote this. You don't necessarily need to know anything about SDV to read this, but there is quite a lot of reference to it, and you might want to look up the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies just so you know what's going on.
> 
> Also all the characters have been aged up so they're around the age of the bachelors/bachelorettes in SDV, I'll put a list of everyone's jobs/roles in the end notes in case anybody's curious.

It was the end of summer, and Michael was excited. Not because he knew he’d have to spend the next day planting new crops and clearing out the old ones—he wasn’t looking forward to that at all, actually—but because of the night he knew was to come. With this being his second year in Stardew Valley, Michael had seen all the events that took place over the year, and the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies had to be one of his favourites. The festivals were fun and all, but Michael had a soft spot for the quiet atmosphere of the night, and how everyone in town had gathered on the docks to watch the simple spectacle of nature.

When the sun set and Michael finished up the last of his summer work, he made his way down to the docks and smiled at the sight of everyone already milling about the beach. Having lived there for a year and a half, Michael had gotten to know some of the townspeople quite well, and he could see them dotted around; Chloe had a camera out, photographing the moon over the ocean, Brooke and Jake were having a lively conversation further down the beach. Talking calmly with Christine and Jenna was Jeremy, Michael’s new best friend who had bonded with him over Apocalypse of the Damned and introduced him to Journey of the Prairie King. It was fun to have someone to geek out with, and having a doctor as a best friend definitely came in handy sometimes, especially when he did so much physical labour.

But the person who caught Michael’s full attention was Rich. The guy was sitting on the edge of the dock, legs swung over the side as he stared out to sea. Michael found himself making his way over, quietly treading across the wood until he was stood next to his friend.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Rich glanced up at the sound of his voice, a smile breaking out on his face as he realised who was next to him. “Michael! Good to see you here, man.”

“Well I wasn’t about to miss this,” Michael said, tucking his hands into his hoodie pockets. “I may never have a day off but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna miss out on the beauty of nature.”

“Of course you’d phrase it like that,” Rich scoffed, before patting the space next to him. “Sit down, dude! I’m already short enough as it is but right now you’re towering over me.”

Michael chuckled at his antics but obliged, lowering himself to sit cross-legged on the dock. Rich beamed at him, shuffling closer as the chill of a late summer night started to set in.

“You seem happy,” Michael pointed out. It was refreshing to see; Rich wasn’t a constant downer or anything, but Michael had seen a fair share of his bad days. Not to mention how they’d gotten off on the wrong foot when Michael first moved in.

“What can I say? I like watching the jellies in the water. They’re calming to look at.” Rich hesitated then, looking out over the water where the jellies were in the distance. Then, he added in a quiet voice, “I like the break from routine. It distracts me from thinking about...well, everything.” He fiddled with his hands in his lap, brushing his thumb over the burn scars almost subconsciously.

Michael was familiar with the story by now. A horrible series of events led to Jake’s house burning down and Rich getting caught in the flames. Since his parents were absent, Jake had been forced to move in with his grandparents in Stardew Valley, and he’d asked Rich to come with him so he’d have a safe place to go once he got out of the hospital. When Rich first told the story, he’d put all the blame on himself and drunkenly insisted that he didn’t deserve anything. Jake later told Michael that he’d long forgiven his best friend.

Michael reached out and took one of Rich’s hands, pulling it away to get his attention. “That was years ago now. You guys were teens, you were allowed to make mistakes. Maybe your mistakes were a bit more serious than usual, but things are better now, yeah? You’re alright.”

“I’m alright…” Rich muttered, staring at their joined hands, before shifting so their fingers were interlocked. Michael felt his face heat up at the action, but didn’t move away. “Yeah. I’m alright.”

They sat there for a moment, both of them looking at where their hands were now resting on the dock, before Rich glanced back to the water again. “I guess I also just like feeling like a kid again, you know? Didn’t really have much of a childhood, I had to grow up way too quick when my mom passed, so getting to be excited over something like I used to when I was a kid...I dunno. It’s nice.”

“It’s nice to see,” Michael said. “Happiness is a good look on you, dude. Makes you kinda adorable.”

Rich huffed out a laugh, turning back to Michael with a spark in his eyes. Whether that was from the moonlight or just his general amusement, Michael didn’t know, but he did know it made his heart catch in his throat. “Only kinda adorable? Damn. I should try harder.”

“I wasn’t sure if adorable was your thing.”

“It could absolutely be my thing, Mell, how dare you.”

“How dare I, indeed.”

They stared each other down for a minute, ignoring the sounds of Jake yelling in the background as Brooke tried to push him off the dock, before Rich snickered.

“This is really fucking gay.”

“I’m really fucking gay,” Michael countered immediately.

“That you are, dude,” Rich said with a grin, and if Michael felt that right then Rich had also just squeezed his hand slightly. He really hoped it was dark enough to hide his blush. “And I’m really fucking bi. It all works out.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“Well—”

“Alright! I think it’s time to send out the candle-boat!” the Mayor announced, breaking the two of them out of their reverie. Michael turned to look at the Mayor but kept his hand where it was, his heart beating faster when he realised that Rich wasn’t moving either. “Let’s get these moonlight jellies to come a little bit closer, shall we?”

As everyone started settling on the docks, Michael turned his attention back to Rich. In the corner of his eye he could see Jeremy watching them with a smirk, but he decided in that moment that he didn’t feel like dealing with whatever Jeremy had to say about them.

What he didn’t know was that the rest of his friends had spotted them and were watching too.

“Y’know, I’m real glad you moved here, Michael,” Rich said, his gaze on the jellies that were now approaching the docks. “You’ve helped me a lot...even when I thought I didn’t deserve it.”

“Of course you deserve it,” Michael said, instinctively countering Rich’s self deprecation. “Also, you say that as if I haven’t been here for a year and a half already.”

“Yeah, but that’s still recent, especially here,” Rich claimed, giving Michael a mischievous smirk. “You’re gonna be known as the new guy until someone else moves in which, let’s face it, isn’t gonna happen for a while. People don’t just move to Stardew Valley.”

“Except for me, I guess.”

“Yeah, except for you. And thank god you did, because otherwise I never would have met you, and I can’t even imagine life without you now.”

“I’m glad I met you too, Rich,” Michael said softly, before his attention was stolen by the jellies that were now almost close enough to touch. Rich shuffled closer, basically leaning on Michael as they took in the sight of the moonlight jellies dancing in front of them, and Michael sighed. “They’re beautiful…”

“You’re beautiful,” Rich murmured, quiet enough that Michael was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it, but he squeezed Rich’s hand anyway and settled into silence. He didn’t know what would happen after this, where they’d stand with each other come tomorrow, but for the moment he simply basked in the warmth of the other boy next to him, the moonlight above them and the jellies below them.

 _What a perfect way to end the summer_ , he thought, leaning into Rich’s side with a content smile

**Author's Note:**

> Here's everybody's jobs (note - they take the place of different SDV characters, but aren't always exact matches):  
> Michael - farmer  
> Rich - works at the supermarket  
> Jake - helps tutor kids with Christine, also does odd jobs around town  
> Jeremy - doctor  
> Christine - helps tutor kids with Jake, wannabe actor  
> Brooke - helps parents run the general store  
> Chloe - freelance photographer  
> Jenna - works at the saloon  
> Mr Heere's also there but I don't know what I want him to do yet. Bus driver maybe?
> 
> I fully intend to write more for this AU in the future, but that'll all come down to how much time and energy I have. Sixth form is hard.


End file.
